Plini, Delta Sleep, nightdive @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 9/8/2026
It was a cold, rainy and a typical wintery night in Adelaide and whilst the temptation of staying home in front of raging wall furnace dozing to whatever was on the box in hindsight it was a great decision to head down to Lion Arts Factory to see Plini supported by Delta Sleep and nightdive. It is a slowly burn but people are starting to catch on to the incredible talent of Plini. Guitar virtuoso probably doesn’t even touch the sides of what he is capable of. Underrated, yes and it is only a matter of time until that finely tuned algorithm finds an even bigger supporter base. That said, Plini has some fiercely loyal and parochial fans who make the noise of a crowd three times the size.
The find of the night is emerging alt-metal and synth rock band from Sydney, nightdive. In the early stages of their career there definitely is some real promise with this band and one to keep an eye out on as they as set to do great things. With two EP’s to their credit In Quiet Rooms and This Will End they were impressive making all the right kinds of noises. Their set might have been short but it’s what they did with it that made it all the more interesting with set highlights including Diviner, Burial and Strange Apparition.
The ticket price alone was worth it just to see UK math rock band Delta Sleep who were playing in Adelaide for the first time. Describing ‘Radelaide’ as the coolest place in Australia’ after ‘Melbourne hung shit on Adelaide’ it was more than a Slow Burn that got this captivating set underway. After Dark, El Pastor and Unread all showed the many sides to this much revered band. Front man Devin Yüceil asked how many people have heard of Delta Sleep and being genuinely surprised by the response. Dotwork was killer as was Lake Sprinkle Sprankle with a false start to follow blamed on Plini staring at them. Finishing on The Detail which was an absolute banger to finish their set.
As a haze of blue light and smoke transcended the stage it felt like it was a low key build up for Plini to take the stage. Right from the get go once the bass kicked in Plini’s guitar mastery reigns supreme on opening song An Unnameable Desire. Visibly tour weary he stares out to the crowd to feed off their energy from which the mood lifts on Cascade and Ciel. It was a brief “hello” at which point he seemed a little lost for words having been on tour for what felt like “15 years” touring extensively in India and through Asia suggesting he had lost his mind and anything coming out of the microphone was not his fault.
Still, it was an incredible performance and the lighting effects and colours used to alter the mood of each song was well considered. To the lay person to them it might be just loud guitars but peel back the layers there is so much more to take in. Paper Moon, Impulse Voices and After Everything were great moments. Plini made no apologies for his banter suggesting it was “awkward for you and fantastic for me” breaking out in to a yawning stretch encouraging the crowd to pretend to doze off in Manala. The on stage banter between the band members was priceless revving up his drummer which later resulted in an impromptu drum solo.
There were plenty more incredible moments to come with Pan, Selenium Forests, The Time Will Pass Anyway topping things off perfectly on Electric Sunrise. A great show is one where the time just whizzes by without watching the clock and this was exactly that. Well played Plini, well played!
Live Review By Rob Lyon